Living in Jyväskylä,Finland. I'm an artist, a writer, and a father.
I also work in a funky little bar.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Spring is gone

Last week a couple of my friends who live in a great old house in a nice little neighborhood here in Jyväskylä decided that spring might as well be over so they figured it was appropriate to host the first official celebration of summer for our circle of friends. Being the camera dork that I am, I managed to take a few photos.

Any well-planned summer get-together in Finland will have mölkky on the agenda. Mölkky is a game that is easy to play. Essentially you throw one chunk of wood at other chunks of wood and accumulate points. (Click here for mölkky rules)

Matti T. demonstrates his superior mölkky throwing style...

and the pins go flying...

A view of the playing field from a different angle. Please note the green leaves of summer.

Like any good Finnish host should, Antti proceeds to fry up some Finnish-style pancakes over the fire.

Its just not a party until someone breaks out the accordian. In this case, Pekka, who actually knows what he's doing.

For further nourishment, some tender little perch and Finnish bananas, grilled to perfection.

If you really want to injure your arm muscles, throwing severely underweight darts from five meters away will do the trick. In this photo Matti P. is engaged in the hopeless project of trying to accumulate enough points to defeat our friend Hokki. The dart players are in danger of being injured by wild throws from the mölkky crowd. Behind the house, the evening rays of the sun catch the facade of the Taulumäki church, designed by architect Elsi Borg. Construction was completed in 1929.